Chapter 123: Wait, What?

Elzri tapped his foot and waited for Stryg to reassemble his potion components, the herbs, and smelly liquids.

Once he was finished, Stryg grabbed the bowl and smiled awkwardly at Elzri, “I’m ready?”

“First, pour in the Soft Rwond. Carefully,” Elzri sighed.

“Right, of course,” Stryg nodded several times. “No problem, I got this,” he muttered under his breath.

Stryg poured in the thick brown liquid carefully this time. It sizzled as it touched the bottom of the cauldron, but thankfully none of it splashed out. After a few minutes, when the Soft Rwond was boiling, Elzri ordered him to pour in the herb bowl’s mixture.

“Mixing ingredients is very important for a red mage. As I said before, the Soft Rwond is a base for this potion, the reason being is that it acts as a dissolving agent. Once the ingredients are melted together it is easier for us to change the components’ properties with our magic,” Elzri explained.

“Change its properties? Can we do that? Really?” Stryg asked.

“That is the whole nature of the potion spell-form. While the process is incredibly slow and can only be cast on very malleable components such as the mixture in the cauldron, potion brewing can be very powerful.” Elzri raised a finger, “If done properly.”

“In this case, you need not stress too much. You may add the mixture slowly, when you do, I want you to try and imagine the components cooling and bonding with one another.”

“Cooling?” Stryg furrowed his brow.

“Yes, it may seem counterintuitive, what with the heat of the cauldron, but magic often does. Each potion has different components whose properties must be affected in a certain manner to achieve the desired result. In this case, the mixture must be rapidly cooled while being under constant heat for about an hour.”

Stryg stared at the bowl with an air of skepticism, “That doesn’t make much sense. How does one even know this is the right amount or the right mix anyway?”

“By centuries of trial and error through rigorous testing. Now, pour in the mixture and do what I said.”

Stryg poured in the mixture as he was told. The blend created a pungent acrid smell that burned his nostrils. His eyes stung and he could feel his eyes water. He closed his eyes to prevent himself from tearing up in front of the most powerful archmage in Hollow Shade.

“Open your eyes and focus,” Elzri said sternly.

“Trying,” Stryg opened his eyes blearily.

“Once you begin spell casting you cannot stop, lest the potion be ruined. When you are ready, begin spell casting, do not start a second early.”

“Understood,” he coughed.

Stryg hovered his hands over the cauldron. He imagined what it would be like for the boiling yellowish slop to cool down, he thought of the frozen icicles that would form on the branches of the ashen trees of Vulture Woods during late autumn. The red mana within his heart resonated and flowed through his veins and into his fingertips.

The boiling mixture’s bubbles began to slowly disappear for a brief moment. The wretched scent grew stronger. Stryg’s focus broke, all he could think of was the horrible stench. He stepped back in a coughing fit.

Elzri tapped his foot, “The potion’s ruined. Again, from the beginning.”

~~~

After a dozen more coughing fits, stinging watery eyes, and six more herb bowls, Stryg finally managed a semi-stable cauldron mixture, for about two minutes. The moment he sprinkled scented blue ore dust into the cauldron, Stryg cried out in pain. If the smell before was bad then this was death incarnate. He fell to his knees with nausea.

“Okay, we need to stop this.” Loh rushed over to Stryg and rubbed his back. “His sense of smell is clearly way too sensitive for this potion.”

“Just the same, I was about to call the lesson off. For all his talent, the boy clearly cannot manage a simple potion. If this mildly troublesome smell caused him this much trouble, then he has no future in potion brewing,” Elzri shook his head.

“Don’t say that, it’s his first day. Everyone struggles their first day,” Loh scowled.

“Then you can find him another potion teacher for his second day. I am far too busy to coddle anyone on such a futile venture,” Elzri walked out.

Loh stuck her middle finger at her grandfather’s back.

“Don’t worry Stryg, you’ll be okay. Let’s get you out of here,” Loh helped him to his feet.

He groaned softly.

~~~

Loh brought Stryg to her office. She let him rest in a chair and brought out some tea from one of her cupboards. She heated her kettle with a simple flame spell and served the tea with a quick routine hand.

“Drink up, it’ll help you feel better,” she handed him a steaming cup.

“Thanks,” Stryg managed a small smile.

He sipped the tea and grimaced, “What is this?”

“Ginger tea. Bit strong, I know. But, it’ll help you with the nausea,” Loh said sympathetically.

“If you say so,” Stryg swallowed nervously.

They sat in silence for half an hour, the only sounds were Stryg’s small sips and his occasional cough. Loh wasn’t sure what to say. He was clearly in a sad mood, but she wasn’t sure how to approach the topic. Normally, she would simply leave him alone, yet this time it seemed almost wrong to ignore him. Thankfully, he spoke first.

“I always wondered why it was called scented blue ore, now I know. It’s the worst scent in the world. I mean, how in all the bloody Realms do you get a blueberry scented potion from that evil cauldron?” Stryg shivered.

“You’d be surprised. Red magi have a weird way of being able to change things,” she chuckled.

“Well, I can say goodbye to that future. So much for being a prime mage,” he sighed.

“It’s not your fault, you know. No one manages a spell perfectly on their first day, let alone their first try. I taught you that with grey and orange magic.”

“This was different. Whenever I cast an orange or grey spell I understood when I was doing something wrong. I knew I could fix it. But, this? I couldn’t do anything, no matter how hard I tried. I was utterly useless. I failed you.”

He hung his head in shame.

Loh grabbed his shoulder, “Hey look at me, you are not useless and you have certainly not failed me. Remember Melantha the Blue? She was only a blue mage, yet she managed to defeat a prime arch mage and his entire guard escort. You don’t have to know every spell-form to be powerful. You only need to know one. And you already know four, in my book you’ve already succeeded.”

Stryg stared at her, “You’re not lying?”

She smirked, “Duh. I’m your master. Like I told you back in Dusk Valley. We must have trust between master and apprentice. So, trust me now. You have not failed me, so don’t fail yourself by giving up now.”

His lips curled up just a bit, “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Loh patted his shoulder and stood up.

“So, what now? Do we need to get a new potions teacher?”

“Mm, no, I think we should hold off on the potions for a while. They clearly don’t suit you very well.”

“But, I thought you just said I shouldn’t give up?” He frowned.

“We aren’t giving up, we’re just shifting focus. Chromatic red magic is more than just potions. Remember your chromatic black magic class? Your necromancy?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Stryg covered his face.

“Exactly, the necromancy spell-form wasn’t your thing. Yet, you excelled in the shadow spell-form. You scored at the top of your black magic class, Professor Gette was proud. The same can happen here. Next time you meet with my grandfather I’ll have him teach you red’s other spell-form.”

“Ward magic?” Stryg looked up.

“Yup and I guarantee it won’t be smelly this time.”

“That’s a relief.”

Loh glanced at her bookshelf, “Actually, now that we’re on the topic, this is as good a time as any to teach you grey’s second spell-form, too.”

“Curse spells? Are you serious?” Stryg said excitedly.

Loh pulled out a few books from the shelf and placed them on the desk, “Yeah, I’ve been putting it off for too long. I already borrowed some books regarding the arcane language from the library, so consider this your first lesson.”

“Great! Wait, arcane language? I thought that was more of a ward thing?” Stryg tilted his head.

“How much do you know about the arcane language?” Loh raised an eyebrow.

“Not much,” he admitted. “Just that Callum says it's a pain to use in his ward spells.”

“I’m not surprised. Ward spells are composed of arcane symbols, a very complex language. Curse spells are the same. Which is why it’s time you learn.”

“Okay, I’m ready. Where do we start?” Stryg scooted his chair closer.

“I guess we should start at the beginning. The Ebon Realm speaks two languages, well one now, I guess. Most of us used to speak the Ebon language, also known as the Olden Tongue. Very few people know it still, mostly just scholars.”

“One sec. I just wanna make sure I have this right. Languages are kinda like accents, right? People talk weirdly?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Loh said.

“So, what are we using now?”

“You should really know that part,” her lips bunched to the side.

“I dunno,” Stryg shrugged.

“Common. We all speak Common Tongue nowadays. We have since a little before the Schism 300 years ago. It was a language that was a common ground between all the Realms, hence the name.”

“Got it,” Stryg tapped his temple.

“Each Realm has its own personal language, some have several, but you don’t have to remember any of those. The only other language you should know about is the arcane language. It’s old, I’m not sure how old. All we do know is that it’s used in multiple spell-forms and that the magi of the ten Null Realms have collected bits and pieces of the language.”

“Bits and pieces?”

“Like I said, the arcane language is old. Most of it has been forgotten. Magi all across the Realms gathered what parts they could throughout the years and have formed a lexicon we use to cast our spells. It’s not complete, but still quite impressive.”

“That is impressive… What’s a lexicon?” Stryg smiled.

“Think of it as a dictionary and you’re gonna learn it.”

“I have to learn how to speak a new language?” His smile fell.

“Not speak it, just how to read and write it. Simple enough.”

“Oh, I can already read and write,” Stryg said proudly. “Watch.”

He grabbed a pen and a loose sheet of paper from her desk and scribbled a few words down.

He held the paper up to her and read it slowly, “It says Loh Noir.”

Loh blinked at the childish squiggly lines, “Stryg, that’s Common Tongue... You do know there are different kinds of written languages, right? Right?”

“What? B-but, why? Writing is already so hard. You have to remember so much. Why make it even more confusing?” Stryg frowned.

“Oh gods, this will be harder than I thought,” she closed her eyes tightly and grimaced.

“So, you’re saying I have to learn how to write again?”

“That’s correct,” she sighed.

“Oh. Shit.” His shoulders slumped.

“It’s not that bad.”

Stryg made a deadpan face. “I was never good at writing in the first place. I could never get the words right no matter how many times I wrote them on the dirt.”

Loh glanced at his childish handwriting, “Yeah, I can see that.”

“So much for not failing,” he groaned.

“Look, it's fine. Everyone has their weaknesses. I’ve known people who get letters mixed up whenever they read and write. Something about their eyes confusing words, I think. If they can manage to write well, then so can you. Now come on, we’ll start off with something simple.”

Loh opened one of the arcane books and skimmed through the first few pages, “Here, how about this. The words are water and fire. Easy.”

Stryg looked at the words, “Okay, I can do that.”

He grabbed the pen, dipped it in ink, and began to write.

“Wait,” Loh held his hand. “Not on paper. We’re practicing magic now. I want you to write in the air using mana.”

“Okay…” Stryg dropped the pen reluctantly.

“All you have to do is let your grey mana flow into your fingertip and just write with it in the air.”

“That doesn’t seem too hard.”

“Well, there is one more thing,” Loh winced a bit.

“What?”

“Unlike writing on paper, where all you have to do is get the right curvature of the lines, when writing in the air you have to take into account the depth of the lines. A tad confusing, I know.”

Stryg took a deep breath, “Drawing squiggly lines and expecting them to mean something was always confusing to me. But, here we are.”

Stryg focused on the words he wanted to write, fire and water. He recalled the fresh pain and anger from his recent potion failure. Grey mana streamed into his hand with a warm touch. He focused the mana on his index’s fingertip and began to draw the symbols.

“Take your time, Stryg. Don’t rush, you don’t want to injure your hand…”

Loh’s eyes widened as Stryg flicked his finger through the air in quick swipes, the grey arcane symbols glowing softly in the air.

“Done,” he said after a second.

“What the fuck is that?” Loh pointed at the arcane words.

Stryg glanced between the words and her, “It’s um… Fire and water?”

“Yes, I know that. What I don’t know is how you wrote them perfectly.”

Stryg walked around the words, checking their curves and depths, “Huh. They do look good, don’t they? Weird, I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

“Good?! They're perfect, Stryg! How? It doesn’t make sense. How does a novice mage write perfectly in the air, I can’t even write the words that well!”

“It’s like you said, they were pretty easy words. It wasn’t hard, I’ve written them more times than I can count,” he shrugged.

Loh froze, “Wait. You wrote those words. Those exact words thousands of times?”

“I mean, yeah. Not on the air, of course. On the dirt, when I was a kid. Why are you looking at me like that? I know it wasn’t as nice as paper and pen, but I made do.”

“Stryg, are you telling me you learned how to write the arcane language as a kid?”

“Arcane language? No. I just wrote regular words.”

“Stryg, what did you just write in the air?” Loh pointed to the fading grey words.

“Fire and water?”

“Yes, but in what language?”

“In regular words? Oh, wait, no. You called it Common, yeah that was it, the correct name is Common Tongue.”

Loh rubbed her temple, “Stryg… Those words you wrote on the paper are Common Tongue. They’re not the same as the ones you wrote on the air.”

Stryg stared at her for a second, before his eyes widened, “Ooh. I get it. You’re confused. Yeah, I just wrote them in both forms is all. I didn’t know how to write your name in the second form, so I just wrote it in the first form.”

“Forms? What are you talking about?” Loh frowned.

“Yeah, you know, the two forms for writing words? Ugh, writing is so much more confusing than talking, especially when you start getting into the flow, width, and of course like you said the depth. I don’t even wanna think of how hard it’s going to be learning arcane writing.”

Loh shook her head and ran her hands through her white hair. She slapped her own cheeks and took deep breaths. “Stryg, are you saying that you think there are two different ways to write a word?”

“I don’t think, I know, everyone does,” he chuckled.

She bit her lip, “Mm, you see, no. No, they don’t. A different form of writing a word is called a different language. In this case, you were writing in the arcane language.”

“What? No, that doesn’t make any sense. The words all sound the same, look, the words in the air and the ones on the book both say fire and water. See, they don’t sound different.” He shook his head.

“The arcane language is so old, no one knows what it’s supposed to sound like, so we just pronounce it in our own tongue, Common.”

“Okay, I get what you’re saying, but this is still different. I don’t know how to write any arcane language. I didn’t even really know about it until you told me, today.”

Loh slapped her hands together and placed them right in front of her mouth, “Stryg, what do you call your written word forms?”

“Oh, you know, the Small Form. ‘Cause the words are smaller I guess? I don’t really know. I didn’t come up with the names.”

“And the other form?”

“The Arcana Form, ‘caus- Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Ooooh. Wait, what?”